The Signs of a Healthy Church

  -   October 17, 2023

Every pastor wants a healthy church. And every church wants a spiritually and emotionally healthy pastor. But church health and pastor health is not something that happens by accident. Health happens when we take definite steps that will allow health to flourish. A large church or a small church can be unhealthy. Healthy churches do honest health assessments regularly. So do pastors! 

I was the lead pastor of the same church for 30 years. People often ask me if I miss being a lead pastor. It’s been a year this month since I resigned that position, and I can honestly say that I have not had a day that I have missed the position. I enjoyed it immensely, but I was SO ready to do something different for Jesus. But here is the really cool part – I am still getting to pastor! I am simply not pastoring a local church. I am pastoring pastors and leaders, and I absolutely love it! 

I recently accepted a part time ministry position with Converge MidAmerica/Southeast to be their church strengthening director in the Southeast region. Converge is a missional network of gospel driven churches. They have been one of the premier church planting organizations in the world. But they also place a great precedent on strengthening their churches and pastors (over 1700 churches in 10 different regions of the USA). Their motto is that “We are better together.” We do not want any pastor to feel like he is leading alone. We desire to come alongside our pastors and help them and their churches be healthy and vibrant.  We want our churches to be strong and reproducing, so Converge is very committed to church strengthening. There are church strengthening directors in each region of our country to assist pastors and churches that are part of the Converge network.

Today, 85% of churches have either plateaued or are declining. Their best days are in the rearview mirror. In Converge, we want to help pastors to flip that script. How do we do that? We believe that strong, reproducing churches have:

  1. Healthy Pastors – through coaching, counseling, and honest assessment.
  2. DNA and Vision – they know who they are (their DNA) and they know where they are going (a vision for the future).
  3. Church Health Assessment – Strong, reproducing churches take honest assessments of their current health, and diligently plan to improve. 

We are committed to providing our churches and pastors the resources they need to help accomplish these three things. 

Here are some of the resources that Converge offers to help strengthen pastors and churches:

  1. Church assessment tools
  • We have strategic ways that we help churches do health assessments. This will help the pastor and church to develop growth plans. Every church needs a regular check up to make sure it is healthy and functioning from a position of health and life.
  • Healthy churches are willing to do an honest assessment of what their current reality is and then dream and strategize towards a preferred future.
  1. Pastoral Coaching
  • We want every pastor to be coaching someone and we want them being coached by somebody else. Converge offers one-on-one coaching.
  1. Minister’s Assistance Program (MAP)
  • Providing professional counseling from licensed Christian counselors for pastors and their families.
  1. “Together Groups” for pastors
  • This is when pastors meet together several times a year with other pastors in their region to learn from each other, develop friendships, and encourage each other.
  1. Board Development Program 
  • We offer free resources and a video series that pastors and churches can use to bring growth and development to their leadership board. 
  1. Compass Retreat to help pastors evaluate your fruitfulness by:
  • Defining your current reality
  • Dreaming about a preferred fruitful future
  • Getting connected to a strategic pathway moving forward.

And there are many other resources, conferences, retreats, and seminars designed to help our Converge pastors and churches be healthy, growing, and reaching the next generation for Jesus! So many pastors have commented to me about how wonderful and encouraging it is to be a part of a network and know that you are not alone. Our motto is so true – “We are better together!”  

For more information on the Converge Network, go to Convergemidamerica.org